The UNO St. Claude Gallery in New Orleans presents Madeleine Grace Kelly’s Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition titled “Temple of Familiars.” Kelly’s paintings, etchings and installation explore encounters with mystery in the natural world, especially through the flora, fauna, light and water of the swamps around the Atchafalaya Basin.

Her practice explores kinship, reverence and awe as an antidote to estrangement from the spirit of the land. The work invites viewers to engage with the memory that the water carries of our interconnectedness.   

The exhibition will be open from March 9-April 7, 2024, with an opening reception on Saturday, March 9, from 6-9 p.m., featuring live music and refreshments. Gallery hours are Saturdays and Sundays, 12–5 p.m. The exhibition and all related events are free and open to the public. The UNO St. Claude Gallery is located at 2429 St. Claude Ave.  

Kelly lives in New Orleans. She will be earning an MFA from the University of New Orleans in May 2024. A longtime arts educator, she teaches drawing and printmaking courses at UNO. She is the recipient of the 2024 Homer L. Hitt Society Art Award. She has shown work locally at the Good Children Gallery, the Bywater Art Lofts Gallery and the Fletcher Hall Gallery at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Her work has been featured in the New Orleans Arts Rag and Antenna Signals Magazine.

For more information, contact the artist at mad.g.kelly@gmail.com or visit www.madgkelly.com.